Review for Vital

Introduction

The missing link is finally here! Since Third Window Films restored and released the first two Tetsuo films, they’ve had a strong relationship with auteur director Shinya Tsukamoto, gradually releasing his back catalogue, and getting his new films out to UK audiences as well. This autumn sees a one-two punch of his classic Vital as well as the new Shadow of Fire. And fans have long been asking after a Blu-ray release of Vital. After Arrow recently put it in their US Tsukamoto boxset, it seemed inevitable that it would come here, but for many years that was not the case. It’s one of those all too common instances of rights issues. In the UK, Vital was released on DVD by Tartan Video, and as has happened with other properties, Tartan’s grip on the licenses has long exceeded their demise as a UK distributor. It’s been 18 years since that DVD release, but Vital is finally back on UK retailer shelves, and I get to see just why fans have been clamouring for its return.

Hiroshi Takagi wakes up from a coma with his memories gone; he can’t even recognise his parents. It seems he was in a car accident, and prior to that he had given up a promising medical career when he left education, much to his parents’ chagrin. But as he recovers, he discovers his old medical textbooks, including a text on dissection. That’s enough to get him back into medical school, throwing himself into his studies. Inevitably the dissection classes begin, but the cadaver that is placed in front of his group jogs his lost memories, for it is the body of Ryoko Ohyama, his girlfriend who had died in the crash that claimed his memories. And while he becomes more and more obsessed with the dissection, he’s noticed by another student, Ikumi Yoshimoto, who becomes obsessed with him in turn.

The Disc

Vital gets a 1.85:1 widescreen 1080p transfer on this disc, with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Japanese soundtrack, with optional English subtitles. It’s an excellent transfer; it’s clear to see that the film has had some restoration. There is no sign of print damage or age, and dating from 2004, it’s a little early for the digital revolution. I assume it was shot on film. Detail levels are excellent, shadow and contrast is balanced well, and the colour palette is moody and evocative. The audio is top quality too, immersive and impactful, with the opening of the film deceptively suggesting the cacophonic chaos of something like Tetsuo, before becoming something a whole lot more reflective and thoughtful. Just as in A Snake of June, rain is pretty much a character in this film, but here it’s more a melancholic presence rather than anything sensual.

The images used in this review were kindly supplied by Third Window Films.

Extras

The disc boots to an animated menu, and you’ll find the following contemporaneous extras (no doubt taken from the DVD release).

Making Of (18:46)
World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival (10:46)
Shinya Tsukamoto Interview (11:04)
An Assault on the Senses: Shinya Tsukamoto Video Essay (16:29)
Special Effects (10:27)
Music Clips (6:21)
Trailer (1:33)
Tom Mes Audio Commentary

Conclusion

The hype is most definitely deserved. You might think, given the film’s subject matter and excessive opening, that this is a prurient bit of exploitation, a macabre body horror. It’s nothing of the sort. Vital is an examination of loss, of grief, about the insubstantial transience of life. It’s also a study of what it means to be human, what defines us, about the nature of memory. It can also be joyful and uplifting. It also goes some way towards demystifying a process that we will all go through, but something we tend to lock away and ignore until it’s too late. You want there to be more films like Vital, but in actuality, I have never seen anything like Vital before. It is a pure Tsukamoto film, and for me it’s up there with A Snake of June and Bullet Ballet as one of my favourites of his works.

Once he wakes from the coma, Takagi is disconnected from the world, and it’s only the discovery of the medical texts from his past life that gives him direction. But it’s a lifeless obsession, as he shuns everything else to concentrate on his medical education, and it looks as if he has no idea why he’s doing so. It’s only when faced with the cadaver of his dead girlfriend that the memories start to flash, and feeling begins to come back into his life. The more he dissects her, the more he remembers her, and more importantly, the more he connects with the emotions of their relationship. Naturally he becomes obsessed with completing the dissection.


On the other hand, there is Ikumi Yoshimoto, another student in the class, and also in the group that is dissecting Ryoko. She’s obsessed in another direction. She entered a relationship with an instructor to get into the college, and then unceremoniously dumped him to tragic results once she laid eyes on Takagi. She wants a connection, , no matter how destructive with Takagi, yet she sees him obsessing with the cadaver. It’s a twisted self-immolating obsession compared to Takagi’s more healing mania, although both seem equally unhealthy on the surface.

An analysis of loss, a season of grief, Vital is effective as a narrative, but it is so much more meaningful when it comes to the emotions that it evokes, the vicarious journey of mourning and healing that it takes the viewer on. I love being surprised, presented with something I haven’t seen before when it comes to the films I watch. The older I get, and the more films I see, the less often that happens, but you can always rely on Shinya Tsukamoto to challenge your preconception of film and art. This Third Window Films Blu-ray presents the film to excellent standard. It would have been nice to get some new extra features, although there are plenty here from the original release.

Vital is available direct from Arrow Video, from Terracotta, and from mainstream retailers (not Amazon for some reason, although they do still have the DVD).